A former storekeeper of Obrachire Senior High School, Evans Wilson, allegedly altered all the requisitions for food items in the store, with the total market value of the differences being GH¢103,172.00 in 2022.
Though the Auditor General in its 2022 report, prepared in 2023, had recommended to the management of the school to recover the amount from the Storekeeper with sanctions, the culprit has rather been transferred by the regional education directorate.
“We recommended to Management of the school to recover the amount of GH¢103,172.00 from the Storekeeper with sanctions; otherwise, the Headmistress should be held liable for the refund of the amount into the accounts of the school. We also recommended to the Head of the school to put in place effective controls at the stores to forestall recurrence of the anomaly,” the AG report said.
FOOD ITEMS
The Storekeeper altered bags of beans from the eight requested to 15, cocoa powder from 15 sachets to 75, cooking oil from ten gallons to 21, flour from six bags to 12.
Other items were gari, altered from seven bags to 12, mackerel from 31 cartons to 53, maize from 14 bags to 27, margarine from two buckets to eight and milk from 34 cartons to 66.
The issue was discussed on Tuesday, May 14, 2024 at the public hearing of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), currently sitting in Takoradi, Western Region.
The PAC is discussing the AG report on the public accounts of Ghana: Colleges of Education and Pre-University educational institutions for the financial year that ended on December 31, 2022.
At the public hearing yesterday, the Audit Service indicated that they had received a letter from the regional Education Directorate, stating that they were investigating the matter.
Present at the hearing was the Central Regional Director of Education, Emmanuel Essuman, who said the letter was dated December 6, 2023.
He said that when the region was informed about the matter, it took over and set up a committee to investigate and one of the recommendations was that the officer involved be reassigned to understudy an “experienced teacher to get experience,” hence his transfer.
However, the money has not been recovered, according to the Regional Director.
Interestingly, the said storekeeper, Evans Wilson, had been seen at the PAC proceedings with the management of his current school, Gomoa Gyaman SHS, but at the time his issue came up, he had left.
THE LAW
Section 52(7) of the Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921) states, “The Principal Spending Officer is discharged of accountability of government stores where the stores have been consumed in the course of public business and records are available to show that the stores have been consumed.”
The AG, in its report, said its review of store records of Obrachire Senior High Technical School indicated that the storekeeper, Mr. Evans Wilson, altered the requisition for quantities of food items approved by the headmistress between January 1 and December 31, 2022.
According to the report “this led to unauthorised issuance of food items with a current market value of GH¢103,172.00.”
According to the report, the Storekeeper had explained that the alterations were as a result of topping up supplies served to the kitchen after the requisitions were written and approved by the headmaster.
However, the Auditor said its reconciliation with the Matron did not support his explanation, arguing that the alteration of requisitions for food items, which leads to diversion, deprives students of the right quantities needed for their upkeep.
EXPLANATION
The Headmistress, Kate Selina Conduah, offered an explanation to the PAC yesterday, saying that the items were not supplied to the school.
“So, I told him to maintain the books as it were for me to explain to the auditors when they come. But unknown to me, maybe out of fear, he went behind the scenes to alter the figures just to maybe please the auditors, and that has brought this issue,” she said.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of PAC, James Klutse Avedzi, after hearing the explanation told the Regional Director to ensure that the Storekeeper, Evans Wilson, refunded the money.
“And he should also be sanctioned,” Chairman Avedzi added.
